


Your Catharsis Is Beautiful

by HailAndronikos



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Ba Sing Se, F/M, Fire Nation Royal Family, Rebellion, Slow Build, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-31
Updated: 2020-08-10
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:08:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,283
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25631071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HailAndronikos/pseuds/HailAndronikos
Summary: The seedy underbelly of Ba Sing Se, an Order emerging from the shadows, a rebellion, and a Fire Nation conspiracy that could turn the tides of war forever. Luzon is at the center of it all, with only one problem- the Fire Nation Princess who would love nothing better than to burn him to a crisp. OC/Azula.
Relationships: Azula/OC
Comments: 2
Kudos: 14





	1. Chapter 1

97 A.G. Three years before Sozin's Comet

The candlelight flickered across the dark ceiling, casting a dim shadow upon the old walls. The only sound to be heard was the occasional cricket, or the distant yell of a drunken man in what seemed a world away. Sometimes the yells would alternate between the tone of pain or pleasure, but most times it was hard to distinguish one from the other.

Out of the darkness, footsteps could be heard in the tunnel that led to a room, getting louder with every approaching "thump." As the steps turned a corner, a faint torchlight slowly illuminated the walls of the crude stone tunnel. The flame bobbed up and down with every step its holder took, slowly approaching the room at the end of the corridor.

The man wore simple robes, but they were unquestionably elegant, the robes' dark red cloth skillfully woven, with the highest quality gold on the hood. As the man entered the room, he came upon a massive steel door. On it was a grand illustration of the intricate weavings of dragons, flames intertwined between them, with a massive orange sun beaming brightly over them. Below the illustration were three rotating rings with numbers ranging from one to one hundred. He turned each ring to its corresponding number.

Seven to the fire.

Eighteen to the rider.

One to the eternal sun.

The door clicked,and a small sliding peephole opened, replacing the dragon's eyes with ones that looked very much human.

"When does the flame burn the brightest?" said a cryptic voice from behind the door, eyes unblinking.

"When the hour is darkest."

The words were just above a whisper, but they still echoed slightly off the cold walls of the tunnel. After a slight pause, the heavy door slowly swung open and led to yet another room, only this one had a faded, ancient painting of the gods Agni and Kai on its walls, as well as the shadows of three men who stood huddled in the dim candlelight, all wearing the same elegant blood red robes.

"Welcome brother Shuyo," said the bearded man in the center.

"What is the meaning of this Luo?" snapped Shuyo, doing all that he could to keep his voice down. "We aren't scheduled to convene for another six months. Do you have any idea the danger you've put us all in by calling a meeting on such short notice?!"

Shuyo's cries were met with an indifferent silence, only to be broken by the soft sound of parchment being unrolled by Katsuo, the youngest and only clean shaven of the four men, and the Fire Lord's Minister of Public Affairs.

"Shuyo, you know I would not have called for a meeting if there was no good reason," Luo said, touching his graying beard ever so slightly as he spoke.

Shuyo felt a lump growing in his throat. What good reason could there be? Three of them all held prominent positions in the Fire Nation capital, Shuyo himself was the top intelligence advisor for Fire Lord Ozai. Only Luo wasn't a member of the Fire Lord's cabinet, but still a renowned blacksmith in the Capitol. They would all be burned alive if word got out if they were convening in secret at the Shrine of the Sun.

"Out with it then!" Shuyo said sternly, his voice echoing along the walls. The danger grew by the second the longer they were here.

Katsuo cleared his throat and began reading the message that was scrawled on the parchment.

"Dear Honorable Minister,

I cannot keep silent any longer. As you already know, six years ago today, the greatest loss of life on Fire Nation soil took place at the Massacre of Leng Shan, allegedly at the hands of Earth Kingdom raiders. I am convinced that this is not the case. I can no longer correspond by letter as I fear it will put my life and many others in danger. I beg you to visit me in Fire Fountain City, at the Scaled Dragon Inn at the end of this month, where we can speak in great detail. Come alone.

R.T."

Katsuo slowly rolled the parchment back up, and glanced at his colleagues, the looks on their faces ranging from intrigue to confusion, or even mild disgust.

"This is a joke right? Clearly this R.T. is a lunatic! A crazed conspiracy theorist! Why are we even entertaining this right now?" said Jang, the fourth of the group. His brow was scrunched in anger and he had a bad case of bed hair. Either that or he was mildly drunk, Shoyu couldn't tell.

"I agree with Jang on this," said Katsuo calmly. "This guy is a nut, and I fear it will set a very bad precedent if we give an audience to a conspiracy theorist." Not that I don't have to every day already, Katsuo grumbled to himself.

The tension in the room was palpable. The four members of the order were all shocked, or mildly annoyed, at the contents of the letter, to say the least. Shuyo, however, could not shake the nagging feeling in his stomach that there could be something bigger going on, as much as he wanted to refuse to believe it.

"How in spirits did you even get this?" Shuyo asked Katsuo.

Katsuo sighed. "I receive letters from the masses constantly. I usually let the orderlies go through it all, make them write generic responses. Most of the letters follow the same tune- more funding for different types of businesses, political lobbying, complaints about the roadways, why the supervisor of my district is actually a lizard in disguise, fan mail really. Yesterday however I was feeling generous and gave my staff the night off for the weekend and decided to go through some of the letters myself. Luckily I'm the one to have read it."

Luck was a profound understatement. If curiosity got the best of one of Katsuo's orderlies and they began poking around where they shouldn't, the Fire Lord would dispatch of them, their families, friends, and anyone associated with them without hesitation. If this letter was true of course. Shuyo shuddered at the thought.

"Nobody ever speaks about Leng Shan-it's only touched on briefly in the last year of school," Shuyo said quietly, his brow furrowed. "The wartime investigation committee's findings were an Earth Kingdom raid and slaughter of the town. Brutal, but a straightforward conclusion. Not a word for six years and now this letter out of the blue? I think this is worth investigating, unlike the typical drivel that floats across your desk," Shuyo motioned at Katsuo.

Jang made a face as if someone had slapped his daughter right in front of him. There was no way he would go along with such stupid conspiracies. His life was on the line, no matter how insignificant or crazed this so-called R.T. was one wrong move and he would be on the chopping block with the rest of his colleagues, his position as Royal Sergeant of the Guard be damned.

"We put it to vote," Luo said sternly. "All in favor of investigating the Leng Shan conspiracy?"

Shuyo and Luo nodded in agreement, while Jang feverishly shook his head in disagreement.

"Katsuo?" Luo asked inquisitively. A tie in voting would mean no action by default. They were not in position to take any risks or act without majority agreement, especially in such an incriminating situation such as this one.

"I'm not sure Luo. One on hand, this could finally be the opportunity that we've been waiting so long for, to finally turn Ozai's own people against him. But what if it's a trap? What if he wrote the letter and the only thing waiting for us in Fire Fountain City is a Yuyan death squad?" Katsuo said, his voice trailing off as he mentioned the grim possibility.

Shuyo could feel the lump in his throat grow exponentially as his colleague finished his sentence. If this indeed was another one of Ozai's cunning traps, he would be dead, no doubt about it. But his family? Shuyo might be able to play the ignorant card, that they knew nothing of such treachery, and gamble on their lives being spared. But it wasn't like Ozai to leave a stone unturned. He was cold, calculating, and ruthless. Many war room meetings Shuyo had sat in only confirmed that fact, as Ozai routinely sent entire regiments of soldiers to their demise in order to gain a more strategic advantage elsewhere. Shuyo began hoping that this mystery letter was the ramblings of a drunken fool.

But why would Ozai write a letter to his own Minister of Public Affairs if he suspected someone was on the trail of a Leng Shan coverup? Surely he would just go straight to the source of his suspicions and eliminate them, and Katsuo wasn't suspicious at all. Such a strategy was inefficient, a shot in the dark, and very unlike the Fire Lord.

"The man sounds desperate, he may really have something, and he may be running out of time," Luo said, his eyes in an almost permanent look of deep thought.

"Out of time? He requested to meet at the end of the month! Today is the fourth! If Ozai had almost an entire month to prepare an elaborate trap we all know we have no chance," Katsuo scoffed loudly, getting more visibly frustrated by every passing moment.

"But if I have dirt on Ozai when do I want to spill it?"said Katsuo. "There's got to be something going on at the end of the month in Fountain."

"The Festival of Szeto! It's a pretty big occasion, usually bringing at least 15,000 tourists from across the country," said Shuyo. Slowly the gears began turning in his head, thinking like a strategist instead of a family man.

"He wants to see us in plain sight. No names to faces, no local recognition, large crowds to slip in and out of. Hopefully everyone will be neck deep in booze and fire flakes. If the guy is a conspiracy theorist he's at least somewhat intelligent," said Katsuo, being the first man to smile since they had convened.

"Look, I know everyone here wants to stroke their ego, but can we please put this to vote? The longer we're here the more dangerous it is, we all know that," said Jang impatiently through gritted teeth. "So Katsuo? What'll it be?"

Katsuo let out a conflicted sigh and rubbed the back of his neck. Being the deciding vote was never an envious position, and Katsuo knew that if he voted to investigate this man, their lives had the potential to flip upside down, or end abruptly.

"No. I think we're hedging our bets if we investigate whoever this is. If this is a trap, we put a lot more at risk than ourselves, or our families dare I say. We observe and report like we've been doing for the last two years," Katsuo said matter of factly.

Jang let out an exasperated sigh of relief, his tone and body language instantly becoming more positive.

"Thank you for being the voice of reason Katsuo. It was fine seeing you all again so soon gentlemen, but I've got to get going. The lads have a uniform inspection tomorrow and if it's as bad as the last one I'm going to need all the energy I have to run them into the dirt,"Jang chuckled, smoothing out his robes before grabbing his torch, bowing, and swiftly exiting into the tunnel from which they had all entered from.

"I'm sorry Shuyo, but we simply cannot risk everything that we have worked so hard for over the last two years. I know you understand," Katsuo said politely, patting Shuyo's shoulders as he did so. "I'll leave the letter here so the wrong eyes don't see it. I'd burn it but you and I both know that wouldn't be the best idea." After a few minutes to ensure that if someone was following Jang that he too wouldn't be compromised, Katsuo quietly slipped into the Fire Nation night.

Shuyo sighed. This could have been the golden opportunity for them to finally put in motion the plans that had taken so long to come together. He wasn't sure how much longer he could play both sides of the coin. The longer he did so, the smaller the margin of error got over time to ensure his family's safety as well as maintain the integrity of the mission.

Luo gave Shuyo an understanding smile, almost as if he could read his thoughts. Being the oldest and most experienced of the four, Shuyo often turned to Luo for guidance and advice, often stopping by his smith for a cup of tea and a quick chat.

"I know it's frustrating Shuyo, but Katsuo and Jang are right, we cannot risk ourselves on the back of this one letter," Luo said wisely. Silence hung in the air for what seemed like eternity. Shuyo was tired of hearing the same phrase repeated over and over, no matter how rational it may be. He thought Luo was about to take his leave before the older man suddenly let out a questioning cough.

"However, do not let risk be the enemy of truth. Remember our words- 'The quest for truth above all else'," Luo said with a wry smile, before taking his torch and exiting into the tunnel.

The words rang in Shuyo's brain amongst the silence of the night, the only other sound to distract him were the slight crackle of his torch and his own breathing.

After he decided enough time had passed to leave, Shuyo grabbed his torch and entered the tunnel, securing the door behind him and rescrambling the rings.

Before entering the night, Shuyo reached into his pocket and squeezed. For comfort, for security, Shuyo didn't know why he did it, but the feeling of his White Lotus tile always seemed to put him at ease.


	2. Chapter 2

The three dummies recoiled back in succession, the tattered rags that dressed them once again set alight by a bright blast of fire. Twenty feet away, Luzon panted hard, still in the finishing stance of the technique he just performed-one of what felt like one thousand.

Sweat dripped profusely from his brow, the scorching sun beaming on the hot ground caused the drops to evaporate in almost an instant. It was a blistering day, even for Fire Nation standards. The training ground was empty, save for him and Iroh, who was sitting at a table nearby sipping tea. Who the hell would drink tea on a day like this? Luzon thought, as he collected himself for yet another round of exercises. You could practically boil the water out here without a teapot, or spirits, even without firebending, and I’m sure he’d drink it that way, the crazy old man. 

“You’re getting there Luzon, but remember, you don’t need to try so hard to produce strong flames. The energy comes from within, in the form of your breathing. Every time you try to muscle out more powerful flames, the less you focus on raising that energy within yourself, and you will tire much faster, bending even weaker fire,” Iroh said, slurping his tea. 

“I’m sorry Iroh, I feel like if I try to control my breathing any more I’m going to give myself an asthma attack,” Luzon panted, struggling to get his words out between laboring breaths.

They had been practicing for hours, and only now had Luzon even come close to grasping the technique known as the “Windmill of Fire.” It required him to jump and do almost a full 360 degree turn, but at different points in the turn to hurl a blast of fire at three different targets in rapid succession, without giving away his intent. It was ideal in an ambush scenario or when outnumbered. Iroh swore that the man who pioneered the technique, Lai Gang, was one of the top firebenders of his day-probably 300 years ago- but Luzon liked to think that he was a top contestant in the Fire Phoenix professional wrestling circuit downtown. The thought of some giant masked brute pirouetting and bellowing “windmill of fire” always gave him a tiny bit of positivity through all the frustrations of training. At the very least it took some of the mysticism away from the technique.

“Okay well that’s two for 250,” Luzon sighed, pulling up a chair next to Iroh, who was brewing yet another pot of tea. 

“That’s better odds than what I gave you, honestly. I was expecting one for 500,” Iroh smiled. “You know your family’s history Luzon, you must be patient. Besides, you’re only 18! Oh to be young again.”

Luzon groaned, furiously tussling the small dark brown strands of hair that had come loose from his topknot. Firebending abilities in his family were not measured by natural talent, skill, or lack thereof, but rather by genetic lottery. Whichever ancestor on his Father’s side that pissed off the wrong spirit did so enough that the spirit only allowed every other of his descendants to become a very mediocre firebender while the ones in between had no bending whatsoever. Granted, the windmill is a relatively advanced technique and no easy feat, but Luzon had to work much harder than other firebenders to get where he was now.  
“Fire bending is an art, a mindset, not just a bunch of different moves strung together. Be thankful that you are in this position, with your Father being able to pull such heavy strings,” Iroh laughed, patting his large stomach. “Rest time is over Luzon, we need to keep working. Again!”

Luzon stood up and stretched, bringing his arms parallel to the ground and slowly rotating his shoulders. He noticed that he had already gotten a shade darker, his formerly light brown skin beginning to tan under the scorching sun. Luckily he was wearing a sleeveless training top so his arms would tan evenly. Luzon took a deep breath and readied his stance, feeling the heat and warmth of his energy rise through his diaphragm. He closed his eyes and took one final deep breath, yet another bead of sweat trickling off of his cheek and onto the hot ground.

Just as Luzon was about to execute the technique, a large black mass out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. A formation of four of the Royal Guard were moving into the training area, and quickly. Seeing as he was already distracted and his routine thrown off, Luzon relaxed and studied the men walking towards them, and immediately recognized the man leading the formation. With his golden faceplate, Sergeant Jang was unmistakable, as both Sergeant of the Guard of the Royal Guard, but also as a vertically imposing figure built to fight on the front lines of war. The three men stopped about ten feet away from Luzon, while Jang marched straight up to Luzon.

“Alright, time to pack it up. Training area has been secured on orders of the Princess. Gather your belongings and evacuate the grounds immediately, she wants the grounds empty prior to her training session,” Jang said sternly, his voice muffled from behind his faceplate.

“Nice to see you too Sergeant,” Luzon said, bowing. Even as Luzon stood straight up Jang was a full head and shoulders taller than him. Jang didn’t return the bow. “The training ground has more than enough space for the both of us, why don’t Iroh and I just move to the far corner?” Luzon asked confidently, pointing to the southwest corner of the grounds. He was right-the ground was at least 150 yards long and 50 yards wide. An entire platoon of Fire Nation soldiers could train here without stepping on each other’s toes.

Jang sighed and lifted his faceplate, his face bearing a look of annoyance and discomfort. It was unbelievably hot in those uniforms, and that faceplate didn’t do him any favors either. I wonder why he even bothers wearing that thing, there’s nobody here to impress or intimidate, Luzon thought to himself. Maybe it’s a pride thing? Insecurity? Nevertheless, as soon as Jang lifted his faceplate, his entourage behind him tensed noticeably, already preparing themselves for Luzon and Iroh’s forced removal from the grounds.

“Look kid,” Jang said, rubbing his face in annoyance and wiping the sweat out of his eyes. “I don’t know if you know this, but Princess Azula isn’t exactly the most reasonable person. If this falls on me, it’ll then fall onto the men standing behind me, and the men standing behind me have zero issues in making sure it falls on you. Shit rolls downhill in these parts, the faster you learn that the less chance you have of getting kicked in the face,” Jang said coolly. “Now please get the fuck out of the training area before I throw you out.” 

Luzon stared up at Jang unflinching, the sound of doves cooing nearby the only thing cutting through the tense silence. Jang could easily put Luzon in the infirmary by himself, not to mention the trio of highly trained Royal Guards that stood behind him, but that was the furthest thing from his mind at this point. Luzon was too prideful to be bullied out of something he believed he had every right to take part in, especially if he was training to become a better firebender. He probably thinks I’m some entitled brat-spirits he’s probably right-but I can’t back down from this. Isn’t one of the hallmarks of Fire Lord Ozai’s customs to always strive to improve yourself to serve him and our glorious nation? I have a right to be here, don’t I? 

Iroh watched intently from his tea table. He had zero intentions of letting Luzon get hurt-he’d step in and intervene before that happened- but he wanted to let the confrontation play out naturally. Some individual expression was sorely needed in the Capitol, and Luzon had plenty of it. Whether or not that would harm him in the future remained to be seen, but Iroh had no doubt that the young man had a good head on his shoulders. Besides, he didn’t think Luzon was the type to get his ass kicked just to prove a point-something bigger was at play here.

“Listen, I don’t know who the fuck you think you are, but I’m not here to play your little games. Leave now, or else you’ll be spitting out your teeth for the next two days,” Jang said angrily, raising his fists and assuming a combat stance, the troops behind him doing the same.

“No.”

Almost instantly, Jang threw a right hook at Luzon, who barely managed to duck below the punch as it flew over his head. From his crouched position, Luzon attempted a right uppercut that, with his height disadvantage, missed quite considerably. This was the only opening Jang needed, as he grabbed Luzon’s wild right arm, while at the same time pushing on his left shoulder and stepping behind his right leg, sweeping him hard onto the ground in a heap of flailing limbs. 

Just as Jang and his goons encircled Luzon to kick him into submission, Iroh bolted from his seat with agility that was otherworldly for a man of his age and physical complexion. In a flash, he barreled into one of the Royal Guards, who was taken completely unaware by the old man’s stunning display of strength, sending him flying into his compatriots, Jang included.

“Sergeant Jang that’s enough!” Iroh boomed, smoke blowing out of his nostrils. 

“Yes Sergeant Jang that is enough,” said a cold, icy voice. The doves stopped cooing.

The looks on the guard’s faces were as if time stopped, or if they had come face to face with a ghost. One of them even let out an audible whimper. Jang and the rest of the guards scrambled clumsily to their feet, standing at attention before bowing in unison.   
“Princess Azula,”greeted Jang loudly. While the looks on the other guards’ faces ranged from nervousness to pure terror, Jang kept a blank expression on his face, his cool demeanor sharp as ever in the hot sun.

“Was I interrupting play time or something? Some good old natured male rough housing?” Azula said with an uninterested look on her face, examining her sharp, bright red nails as she did so. They must’ve been freshly done. 

“No Princess, I was simply following your instructions to clear the training ground for your upcoming session,”Jang said, clearing his throat.

Azula’s golden eyes peered at him over her nails. “I see you’ve failed in that regard,”she said lazily. “Tell me Sergeant, why is that?”

“These two refused to comply, but we had it under control,” Jang said, motioning with his head to Iroh and Luzon, who was still on the ground recovering from being slammed so hard.

“Under control, hm? Then tell me why when I arrived you and the rest of my so-called Royal Guards were in a pile like I’d see at a Fire Phoenix event?” Azula was now staring directly at Jang, the tone of her voice becoming more steely by the second, and her gaze cold as ever.

Silence.

“So let’s recap the last, oh I don’t know, the last five minutes Sergeant. First you fail to carry out a direct order from your Princess, then you underestimate and proceed to get your asses kicked by-” Azula paused and glanced at the two to her left- she’d recognize her Uncle’s stupid smile and gut from a mile away- she rolled her eyes. She then peered down at the younger man on the ground, who had just begun to sit up, and as he did so made direct eye contact with Azula. Luzon? “-an old fat man and a teenager, and then to top it all off you lie to my face.” 

“Please Azula, surely by now you’ve learned to give me at least some credit,” Iroh chuckled, trying to ease some of the tension. Azula ignored him. 

“You three!” Azula barked at the guards who stood at attention to the left of Jang. “Report to Xian in sanitation, the chamber pots could use that extra attention to detail that the military is so renowned for for a couple of months,” she said, sarcasm dripping from her words.

They bowed in unison, and like roaches in the light they scattered wildly, desperately trying to get out of the vicinity before Azula could levy any harsher punishment. Azula had to stifle a chuckle at the sight, amused at the fact that a 18 year old girl could make grown men tremble with fear. She would never get tired of such effortless control.

Azula then refocused her attention back on Sergeant Jang, who still was standing at attention, unwavering. The fact that he could accept his punishment like a man gave Azula a small modicum of respect for the man. She stood in front of him, and she had to squint her eyes to protect them from the sun as she peered up at the man. He had to be a foot taller than her. 

“Do I need a new Sergeant of the Guard, Jang? Someone who can actually carry out the orders of the Crown Princess?” Azula asked.

“No Princess,” Jang said firmly. 

“Good, because unlike everyone else in this palace you’re not a bumbling fucking idiot,” Azula muttered. “You have served me adequately over the last two years, and someone with no standards or self respect might even consider it an honorable term of service. But let this be your first and only warning Sergeant, if even a bread crumb is on my training ground without my prior approval, I will ensure that that day will be your last. Now report to the officer of the day, I will pass on your punishment later, my training has been postponed far too long,” Azula said dismissively, waving him away.

“Right away, Princess,” Jang said, bowing before he left the training grounds, but not before he stared daggers at Luzon who had just now stood up. 

Azula was used to dealing with incompetence, and frankly it was beginning to bore her. Her entire life she had been surrounded by failures, whether it be her teachers, the people she called her friends, or her idiotic basket case of a brother. Regrettably, she had begun to concede to the fact that nobody that she would encounter for the rest of her life would live up to her impeccable standards, and arriving to that conclusion had been more difficult than she would admit. Regularly she would catch herself-after the fact of course- firing her servants or belittling her palanquin carriers for being chronic underachievers, but frustration would set in as she realized that whatever idiot that they would send to her next would be just as bad if not worse.

She easily could’ve replaced Jang, brought in some brute who had been promoted quickly solely based on the fact that he could run faster than his peers, and be let down once more as he failed to coordinate anything that would even come remotely close to her standards. Rinse, repeat. Azula knew that if a serious threat emerged, she could trust Jang to eliminate it efficiently and without hesitation. Accepting anything less than perfection from others almost made her physically ill, but she was coming to terms with the fact that it had to be done.

“Why must you make everything difficult Uncle?”Azula chided, turning her attention back to the matter at hand.

Iroh had sat back down at his table, sipping his tea happily, unconcerned about the Princess’ presence.  
“Now I know I usually subvert your expectations for me my dear niece, but it wasn’t me this time,”Iroh said. “It was this one.” He motioned at Luzon who had finally recollected himself and was rolling his neck around, restarting his stretching routine and shaking out the cobwebs of his dustup with the guards.

Azula glanced at him, her lip curling up in disgust ever so slightly. They must let anyone into the training grounds these days, she thought. He was Mai’s friend, and attended the Royal Fire Nation Academy for Boys, but that still gave him no right to be in her presence so candidly.

“I see you’ll let any jock train with you Uncle,”Azula said, shaking her head. “Tell me Luzon, did you give this fool your entire life’s savings just to take part in a half-assed training session? Not that it would have been much,”Azula smirked.

“Quite the contrary Princess,” Luzon said, his eyes closed as he rolled his neck slowly. “You’d be surprised at how far in life a good word and a couple of Pai Sho tiles can get you.”

“I disagree, power and control can get you much farther in life than some stupid game tiles, but it seems you have a glaring lack of both so you have to resort to rudimentary tactics,” Azula said, stepping closer to Luzon and staring daggers at him with her golden eyes. “Now remind me Luzon, why haven’t you gotten out of my sight yet?”

As he heard her step closer Luzon finally opened his eyes and stopped his stretching routine, taking in the athletic figure of the Princess who stood before him. She was skinny, her toned arms shiny and smooth in the sunlight, her eyes a deep golden brown. Azula radiated a presence and aura of pure power and intimidation, a mix of confidence with a killer instinct. Her hair, usually tied in her traditional topknot with strands framing her face, was instead tied completely back in a simple yet elegant ponytail, and she had discarded her typical Royal outfit of red and gold for a more comfortable white tank top and black pants. Luzon had only really seen her in passing whenever the boys and girls from the Royal Academy mingled after class, usually ignoring Ty Lee in the background as he spoke to Mai about whatever she was annoyed about that day.

Up close however, Luzon could feel his heart quicken ever so slightly-she was absolutely gorgeous. Too bad she’d rip my head off if I even coughed in her direction, Luzon thought. Wouldn’t she?

“Well Princess, to be honest I’ve been struggling with my firebending lately and I figured I could learn a thing or two from a prodigy,” Luzon said, smiling. Admitting his own failures was practically ripping him apart from the inside, but he put on his best acting face in hopes that Azula would accept his meager offer. As much as he hated to admit it, training with the Princess could be a savior to his mediocre firebending, and precisely why he even challenged the guards.

Azula saw right through him, Luzon’s strained smile and furrowed brow made it easily apparent that he was too proud to admit defeat, but yet he did so begrudgingly. I ought to eviscerate him for trying to manipulate me, she thought, but a softer, more reasonable voice in her head fought against those thoughts. If you can get him on your side like Mai and Ty Lee, another person to control and bend to my will could never hurt, Azula smirked at her strategy. Besides, she could hardly turn down an opportunity to inflate her own ego and prove to the world how strong she was.

“Well… I suppose I can throw a pity party today, considering I’m in such a good mood,” Azula sighed. “Consider it a token of gratitude for your Father being so instrumental to the war effort.”

Luzon quietly let out a huge sigh of relief. His gamble to get the Princess alone with him and Iroh in the training grounds had paid off, with a bruise here and there of course, but it would be all for nothing if Azula melted his face off for merely suggesting they train together, but that had paid off as well.

“Of course Princess,” Luzon nodded, taking up a stance opposite the training dummies.

Azula smirked and did the same, adopting a stance much lower than the traditional firebending ready position, almost as if she was a cat waiting to pounce on her unlucky foe. Without hesitation, she fired a quick volley of radiant blue fire at the furthest training dummy, scorching it almost completely black. Before the last of the flames had hit their first target, Azula elegantly cartwheeled over on one hand and fired another salvo of flames at the next dummy, this time alternating between fire fists and long, sweeping roundhouse kicks. Each blast of fire was deadly accurate, hitting each dummy center mass right in the chest. As she turned her attention to the last dummy, Azula took off in a full sprint 30 yards to her target. As if she jumped on an invisible springboard, Azula launched herself 15 feet in the air, winding up and coming down ferociously on the dummy with a heel kick emblazoned in flames. 

The dummy recoiled from the stunning strike, and Azula showed no mercy to the plastic target, getting up close and punishing it with a flurry of hooks, uppercuts, jabs and body kicks. She finished off her combination by winding up and firing an intense blast of fire, sending the dummy flying to the other side of the training area.

Luzon stood at the edge of the training area, his jaw dropped in awe and his feet rooted to the spot in a mixture of fear and amazement. Azula made her way back to him, her breathing as if she was in a theater watching a boring play, her hair immaculate without a single hair out of place. She’s absolutely incredible. 

Azula smirked at Luzon’s reaction, his eyes wide in fear and amazement. Instilling those two emotions in people got her higher than any drug ever could, and she was only getting started.

“Oh Luzon, please don’t give me that look, surely you have a routine that can trump that. That was just my warmup,” Azula said, her wry smile making the lump in Luzon’s throat grow even more.

Iroh got up from his table and meandered over to Luzon, placing his hands on his shoulders to try and get him to relax.

“Remember what we spoke about Luzon, get your mind right and you will be just fine. You don’t need to be nervous, this is just a training session,” Iroh said soothingly.

Luzon nodded and took a deep breath, and closed his eyes as he felt the energy rise through his chest. He opened his eyes and fired a quick three burst volley of fire at each dummy, each fireball finding it’s target, albeit rather weakly. Luzon then shifted his weight onto his back foot, firing synchronized blasts from his hand and his lead leg, and then switched to his alternate leg and hand, letting the movements flow as best as he could as he cycled through his targets. 

Luzon glanced over at Azula, who looked thoroughly unimpressed, as if she was watching a drag race between two turtleducks on land. I’ve gotta do something here, Luzon thought to himself. Mustering up all of the strength he had, Luzon charged at the dummies, firing a blast with an overhead kick, and using his spinning momentum, sending off another with a spinning backfist. With all of his remaining energy, Luzon fired a strong upkick,creating a sharp blade of fire that knocked the dummy soaring into the air. At the same time, Luzon launched himself into the air, his height even with the now falling dummy.

I’ve got to do it right here.

On cue, Luzon spun in the air, his limbs twirling in a coordinated spin as he attempted the Windmill of Fire for what he hoped would be the final time today. 

Azula barely had time to duck out of the way to avoid the first of three wayward fireballs. The second landed harmlessly in the middle of the training ground, while the third flew directly into Iroh’s table, sending wooden shrapnel and splinters flying into the air, the tea merely an afterthought as it splattered all over the ground.

Fucking shit, Luzon thought. He had let the Princess get in his head, recklessly trying a technique he was nowhere close to mastering just for the sake of appearances. If he had stuck to the basics, he would’ve made himself look poor in front of Azula-hell I probably would have even if I was the fucking Avatar- but now she had to have thought he was a total mess. Luzon landed as gracefully as he could, surveying the damage he had done to Iroh’s tea table before making his way back to Iroh and Azula.

“Bravo Luzon,”Azula said, clapping slowly before putting her hands back on her hips. “You might be the greatest firebender to ever exist… if the enemy was wooden tables. Oh, even better! You could be the greatest coffee salesman in the capital, the way you managed to explosively eliminate that tea.” She wore a wide, but humorless smile, the ice from her voice enough to freeze the air around her.

“What can I say Princess? I’m a man of many talents,”Luzon groaned, trying to cover up his embarrassment with an air of indifference.

“Right, and not a single talent that would be considered useful to be even a subpar firebender, a shame really,”Azula sighed, turning her attention back away from Luzon and getting ready for her next round of exercises. “Now that you’ve sufficiently wasted my time, please exit the training area before you start burning down the Palace.” The empty politeness was a mere formality, as Azula had already made up her mind to punish the both of them if they protested her once more.

“Of course Azula, we will take our leave,”Iroh said quickly, shooting a glare at Luzon to shut down any possibility of him defying yet another order. “Come Luzon, we must take a rest and rest our bodies, replenish our minds and our hearts,” he said warmly, beginning to gather whatever belongings that weren’t destroyed.

Luzon nodded and began removing the training wraps from his hands, grabbing his duffel bag full of clothes off the ground and making his way to the exit of the training grounds. Fuck it, now is a better time than ever.

“Princess!” Luzon called out to Azula, who was on her way to put the training dummies back in place at the other end of the training grounds. Luzon jogged the 30 yards between them to catch up with her. “

I swear, if I get interrupted one more time I’m going to lose my mind. Azula snapped around quickly, casting a deathly glare at Luzon, who had finally caught up to her.

“Listen, Princess, I was thinking maybe we could train together on a regular basis,”Luzon said shakily, trying to keep whatever composure he had left as Azula stared daggers into his soul. “Obviously I’ve got a lot to learn, and I’m sure you’d want to hit a live dummy every once in a while.” Although his voice shook slightly, Luzon’s eyes did not betray him, as he looked into Azula’s scrutinous gaze with an air of self confidence and humility.

Azula resisted the urge to kick Luzon in the face the second the last of his words left his mouth. How dare he! But surprisingly, even to Azula, the seldom heard voice of reason rang once again in her head. He’s got confidence in spades, that’s for sure. Maybe a live training dummy wouldn’t be so bad? Frankly, Azula was getting rather lonely in the Palace, as she only saw Mai and Ty Lee whenever they were in class, not that she needed anybody of course. But why make myself feel worse when an opportunity to remedy such feelings presents itself in front of me with no effort on my part whatsoever? It would be a nice change of pace, to have a male peer to be around, if not solely for the company, as much as Azula didn’t dare to admit it.

“Well I guess beating up someone with a pulse would be a nice change,”Azula said. “Fine, you can be my training dummy, but that is as far as this agreement goes! Don’t expect any royal favors from me any time soon.” She rolled her eyes. “We train five days a week, Monday to Friday, at sunset. If you’re even a second late consider this arrangement over. Now get away from me!” Azula huffed, turning quickly from Luzon and back to rearranging the dummies.

Luzon nodded quickly and turned, jogging back to Iroh who was waiting patiently. 

“How did that go?” Iroh asked warmly.  
“Way better than I expected,” Luzon replied, exhaling, as he realized he was holding his breath for the last 30 seconds. He couldn’t believe his luck, this could be the best thing that has happened to him in the last five years. Or the worst mistake of your life. 

The journey home was an uneventful one, as the silent walk through the palace grounds was only broken up by the occasional patrol or noble making their way into or out of the palace. Luzon’s home was just a couple of blocks away, in a neighborhood frequented by the very wealthy and those of high political stature, and only took him and Iroh ten minutes to get to. 

The home was a modest one compared to its neighbors on the block, but very elegant nonetheless. A two story pagoda style home-like most of the buildings in the Fire Nation- emblazoned with red and gold paint and ornation. A stone fountain with a tiny river ran through the garden, with the stone walkway to the front door adorned on both sides by bright red fire lilies.

The pair stepped into the house, and immediately were greeted by the warm, yet familiar smell of jasmine tea brewing. Luzon didn’t care for the tea, but Iroh took a deep breath, inhaling the sweet and hot fragrances of the beverage. Kani isn’t home, Iroh thought, the image of Luzon’s mother flashing through his mind. It’s the only way Shuyo can get away with brewing jasmine in this household, she hates that stuff. Iroh chuckled and looked around, taking in the familiar surroundings of Shuyo’s household. The large fireplace, dark wooden tables and dressers, the cloth couch taking center stage in the living room.

“I’m going to get cleaned up, I’ll see you later Iroh,”Luzon said, climbing the stairs to his room.  
“Of course Luzon, remember what we discussed today, and don’t hesitate to join your father and I for tea and Pai Sho!”Iroh smiled.

Luzon nodded and returned the smile, bowing to the wise old man, with Iroh bowing back before stepping into the kitchen and grabbing the teapot and two teacups.

“Shuyo! Where are you?”Iroh called, his friend nowhere to be seen.

“In the back!” replied a distant voice, coming from the study in the far corner of the house.

Iroh trudged through the kitchen, careful not to burn himself with the tea, or even worse, drop the teapot. He entered the study and found Shuyo sitting at his desk, pondering over a large scroll with a Fire Nation royal seal that was set out before him, his eyes deep in thought. It wasn’t like Shuyo to bring his work home with him.

“I see my brother has you working overtime!” Iroh chuckled, setting the tea down carefully at the edge of the table.

“Well as you know, sometimes you have to work overtime to even stay on the payroll,” Shuyo said looking at Iroh over the top of his glasses before quickly rolling up the scroll and throwing it into this desk. He reemerged with a Pai Sho board. 

“Now we’re talking!” Iroh said eagerly, filling the two cups to the brim and passing one to Shuyo. He cooled the tea with his breath before taking a hearty sip, the liquid warming his core as it slipped down his throat. Shuyo however, looked wholly uninterested in the tea, his eyes fixed into a stare on the Pai Sho board.

“Come on Shuyo, has Kani finally poisoned your mind about the horrors of jasmine tea? Or are you already formulating your strategy to beat me? Your last game wasn’t pretty, if I’m being honest,”Iroh chuckled, taking another sip of tea.

“No my friend, it isn’t that,”Shuyo said, fishing around in his pockets for a couple of seconds before finally removing his hand and delicately placing a White Lotus tile in the center of the Pai Sho board.

“Tell me, General Iroh,”Shuyo said, his voice just barely above a whisper. “What do you know about Leng Shan?


	3. Chapter 3

The only sound to be heard was the slight whistle of the wind blowing through an open window in the study. Iroh stared at Shuyo for what seemed an eternity, his eyes glancing back and forth between his friend and the White Lotus tile resting on the Pai Sho board. It seems that this visit isn't merely a friendly game between competitors.

"I know just as much as you would, my friend,"Iroh said quietly, clearing his throat before taking another sip of tea.

"That's what I was afraid of," Shuyo said, once again opening up his desk and pulling out the scroll he was reading, as well as a full set of Pai Sho tiles.

He passed half the tiles to Iroh, as they began setting up the board for the first of many games. An awkward silence hung in the air as the two men set up their respective sides of the board, the clacking of the tiles in their hands almost deafening.

The game opened rather uneventfully, the two experienced players trading pieces back and forth, every move, counter, and trap set up five turns in advance. Iroh sighed as Shuyo countered his Crouching Tiger tile with Black Lotus, only for Iroh to swiftly eliminate Black Lotus with his own Red Dragon. The oldest trick in the book, Iroh thought to himself.

"Clearly you have something on your mind Shuyo,"Iroh said, refilling his teacup once more. "Would you care to share?" Iroh gave Shuyo a not-so-subtle look, motioning with his eyes to the rolled up scroll at the edge of the table.

Shuyo nodded, adjusting his glasses before slowly unrolling the scroll, being careful not to interfere with the Pai Sho board. "We convened last week. I wasn't surprised at your absence considering your current status and the fluidity of the situation."

Iroh nodded solemnly. "Prince Zuko is falling more out of favor with his Father every day, and I'm afraid I'm losing whatever say I have left in the matter. My nephew is headstrong, and isn't afraid to speak his mind-he and Luzon are quite alike, but I fear that will be his undoing," Iroh sighed, his eyes downcast at the floor. "Don't worry though, I stopped by Luo's shop and he informed me of the meeting, minus any details of course."

"Listen, I know it's not much, but the monthly situation report amongst all the commanding officers and the intelligence community in the Earth Kingdom theater is coming up at the end of the week. If Zuko can hold his own in there I think it would help him get into better standing with his Father. Hell, he could probably learn a thing or two if he kept his mouth shut,"Shuyo said, smiling.

Iroh pondered the generous offer, rubbing his hands together in deep thought. Zuko could learn a great deal about military strategy and prove to his Father he wasn't some loud idiot, all in one afternoon. It was a foolproof scenario, as long as his nephew understood the importance of being invited to such an occasion, and most importantly, didn't do anything rash. He's too smart for that, he'll be just fine, Iroh thought, a warm smile returning to his face.

"Thank you my friend, that is a marvelous idea, I will speak to my brother about it tonight,"Iroh said, picking up his Red Dragon tile and tossing it around in his hands, feeling the familiar ridges on the edges of the wooden tile. "Now, fill me in on the details of the last meeting."

Shuyo cleared his throat and began reading from the scroll.

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY.

"TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN, THIS REPORT DETAILS THE FINDINGS OF THE OFFICIAL WARTIME COMMITTEE'S INVESTIGATION OF THE MASSACRE AT LENG SHAN. UNAUTHORIZED PERSONNEL THAT DISSEMINATE THIS INFORMATION WITHOUT PRIOR APPROVAL WILL FACE SWIFT PUNISHMENT.

On the morning of 27 September, 91 AG, the destruction of the Fire Nation town of Leng Shan was discovered by a passing trading caravan. Every man, woman, and child was murdered, the buildings razed to the ground. Upon closer inspection by the committee, it was discovered that this was a raid carried out by Earth Kingdom guerilla troops, their corpses mixed in with the rest of the townsfolk who fought so valiantly to protect themselves. Intelligence suggests that this raid is retaliation for an incident that happened on the Earth Kingdom peninsula that resulted in the death of ten civilians, though no official correspondence exists that Fire Nation troops were in the immediate area. This act of genocide will not go unpunished, and may Agni and Kai watch over the staunch protectors of our great land, as they fight to avenge this heinous act in the name of our glorious Fire Lord Ozai.

Signed,

Dai Lin

Chief Investigator of the Wartime Committee"

Shuyo slowly rolled the scroll back up and placed it back on the table, resting his elbows on the table and putting his face in his hands. First the letter, and now the official report; it all began to take a toll on his mental state, just from the sheer magnitude of the situation.

"The after action report from Leng Shan?"Iroh asked, his eyebrows raised in confusion. "Forgive me Shuyo, but I don't see what's going on here."

Shuyo sighed, desperately trying to rub the fatigue out of his eyes. I probably should have led off with the letter.

"The reason Luo called us together was because of an anonymous letter addressed to Katsuo, claiming that the Leng Shan massacre wasn't the responsibility of the Earth Kingdom. That's all I've got so far, that and this report that doesn't fucking tell me anything,"Shuyo muttered through gritted teeth.

The look on Iroh's face slowly morphed from confusion to concern as he processed the information that Shuyo was telling him. His first instinct was that Shuyo was stressing over nothing, the ramblings of a crazed man and the perfectly boring summary of a wartime committee investigation. Another creeping feeling however, tickled at his gut, one that reminded Iroh to never leave a stone unturned, even if it was as small as a grain of sand on a vast beach.

"Shouldn't you have all the inside information of this sort of thing? Being the director of intelligence and all…" Iroh began moving the Pai Sho tiles on the board, practicing a multitude of different strategies. Shuyo didn't seem to mind.

"Leng Shan happened six years ago, and I was appointed Director of Intelligence four years ago. I was overseeing affairs in the colonies when it happened, so naturally I wouldn't know any details specific to the investigation or any of the intel around that time. Besides, Ozai rotates his cabinet every five years, so even if I knew what to investigate I wouldn't know who to ask, without raising any alarms,"Shuyo said. "He knows how to keep his cards close to his chest."

Shuyo stood up and opened the glass cabinet behind his desk, pulling out a bottle of sake, offering it to Iroh, who politely declined. Shuyo chuckled as he poured himself a glass.

"We voted for no action at the meeting,"Shuyo said, grimacing slightly as the familiar burn of the sake traveled down his throat. "But I'm telling you Iroh, this doesn't feel right at all."

Iroh grunted as he continued to arrange the Pai Sho tiles.

"You won't have any backing from the rest of the members of the Order, you know that Shuyo. Investigating this conspiracy puts your entire family's life at risk, but I'm sure you understand the implications of this situation. I trust you will use your best judgment. But I must take my leave, surely you understand why," Iroh said, standing up.

He bowed thoughtfully, and smartly made his way out of the house, and just like that Shuyo was left alone with his thoughts, a bottle of sake, and a Pai Sho board with the White Lotus emblazoned in the center.

Luzon awoke the next morning groggy and sore. His muscles ached in ways he never thought possible, and the bump on the back of his head from his fight with the royal guards felt as big as a melon. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Luzon stumbled to his dresser and gingerly put on his school uniform, the dull red and black clothing reminding him of how long the day was going to be. He carefully tied his hair into the traditional top knot, ensuring not a single hair was out of place before making his way downstairs.

Luzon's legs protested in agony with every step down the stairs, with his knees buckling under stress multiple times if he wasn't careful. After what seemed like eternity, Luzon finally made it to the bottom of the stairs and into the kitchen, where his Mother was cooking what smelled like a delicious breakfast.

"Good morning Luzon," she said sweetly, not taking her eyes off her cooking as she cracked another egg onto the skillet, the sizzling oil popping loudly.

"Morning Mom," Luzon replied, grabbing an already prepared plate of eggs and sausage and filling a glass full of milk before he sat down at the table.

He dug into his plate ravenously, barely breathing before shoving huge forkfuls of food into his mouth, the runny yellow egg yolk splattering his plate and the spicy yet mildly sweet sausage exploding with flavor onto his taste buds.

"Calm down Luzon, the food isn't going anywhere," his Mother said with a hint of annoyance in her voice, as she sat down at the table across from him with her own plate. Luzon rolled his eyes in response.

"Where's Dad and Anika?" Luzon asked in between bites.

"It's Anika's first day as a waitress at the new tea shop by the market, you be sure to drop by and say hi to your sister. As for your Father, well…" her voice trailed off in mild frustration. " He left for the palace early this morning. He's been really busy the last week or so with work, and I think it's starting to bother him. You know how much I hate it when he brings his work home with him, but he won't listen to a word I say. Those reports are meaningless anyways, just drivel fed to him by Generals on the front more interested in improving their reputation than actual intelligence," she waved her hand in the air mockingly.

Luzon nodded absent mindedly as he scarfed down the rest of his food and chugged his glass of milk, his Mother looking on in horror.

"I gotta get to school Mom, I'll see you later tonight," Luzon said, grabbing his book bag and kissing his Mother on the cheek.

"If you vomit on the way to school I'm not bailing you out of class!" she said, shooing him away. "Let me know how training goes with Iroh, you've been working with him forever."

"Actually, I'm training with Princess Azula now. I'll see you later!" Luzon called from the living room, hastily making his way out of the house.

"The Princess- What?" his Mother said in shock. "Luzon?!" his mother called out for him, but it was futile. Luzon had already made his way out of the house.

The walk to the Academy was one of Luzon's favorite parts of the day. It was quiet in comparison to the rest of the day- only a fraction of the street vendors peddling their wares were out and about at the early morning hour, the streets only populated by his fellow students and those with early morning work shifts. The mornings were pleasantly cool before the sun could rise in the sky with its punishing heat, and the smell of the blooming fire lilies and cherry blossoms gave the cool air a hint of sweetness.

His hobbled legs made Luzon take his time on the walk, something that he was grateful for no matter the annoying pain that throbbed in his legs with every step that he took. As he finally arrived at the Academy grounds, he took in the sight of the large group of teenagers mingling with one another before class started, as it would be their only opportunity to do so until the end of the day.

The Academy itself was rather large, two massive buildings that faced each other, the girls building on the left and the boys on the right, with a courtyard in between filled with low hanging trees and various flora interspersed between benches for the students to sit on. Luzon wasn't particularly sure why the classrooms were segregated, as it didn't make much difference if they could speak to the opposite gender before and after class, but truthfully he would be much more distracted if there were pretty faces to look at. Especially if Ty Lee was in my class, he thought to himself.

A segregated learning environment had been the norm ever since Luzon was old enough to remember- even his parents were separated as teenagers, but managed to beat the odds regardless. The current explanation of the policy was to ensure a learning environment where the student can be educated on the glorious exploits of Fire Lord Ozai and his ancestors before him, how the Fire Nation single handedly brought prosperity, technology, research, and advanced medical knowledge to the rest of the world that wasn't so fortunate. The method seemed to work, as Luzon was constantly engrossed in Fire Nation history, a topic which he found truly fascinating. However, it wasn't too difficult to figure out that in the past a series of rather questionable incidents between the male and female student body was the real reason behind the segregation, a topic that brought a smile to the faces of many students.

Wading through the crowd of students and tuning out the hundreds of different conversations, Luzon's attention was grabbed by Mai waving at him from afar, sitting on a bench beneath a tree, Ty Lee not far away having an animated conversation with one of the boys from Luzon's class, while Azula sat quietly cross legged against the tree, glaring daggers at the crowd before her. They exchanged pleasantries, ranging from a quick hug from Ty Lee to an uninterested grunt from Azula.

Luzon and Mai's fathers were good friends, their relationship dating back to when Shuyo was in charge of handling security details for the various nobles that visited the outer colonies. So naturally, when Shuyo and his family arrived in the capital for a new assignment, Mai was the first new friend that Luzon made. He found her air of indifference refreshing amongst a city of snobs and bureaucrats and she was just happy to be around someone that wasn't Ty Lee or Azula for a change. However, unlike Azula, Mai's friendship with Luzon was more than just one of convenience, and she felt she could actually talk to him about what bothered her-which happened to be a good amount of different things.

The conversation quickly devolved into what it usually did- Mai grumbling about another shitty day learning about boring subjects, Azula trading barbs back and forth with her air of superiority, and Ty Lee chiming in with enthusiasm and positivity. It wasn't much, but Luzon was grateful to have them as friends-well, minus Azula I guess. Truthfully, he wasn't the most social in his class, and only being in the capital for four years made it infinitely more difficult to break into the cliques of the other nobles' children that had been formed after so many years.

After a few more minutes of bickering back and forth between the trio, the sound of the horn that signaled the start of the day's classes finally rang through the air. Luzon said his farewells and made his way to his classroom with the rest of the boys, while the girls headed in the opposite direction.

The first few moments of class were always the same, with all the students in the class standing up and reciting the Fire Nation Oath of Allegiance before bowing to the oversized portrait of Fire Lord Ozai that hung behind the teacher's desk.

Today however, was what Luzon had been looking forward to for the entire week-study of Fire Nation military history, with an emphasis on recent events in the Earth Kingdom. The lessons were lengthy and lasted a good portion of the day, with topics ranging from early victories at Han Tui and Garsai, to the heroic sacrifices and deeds of the 82nd Artillery Division at the crossroads of Hu Xin as they defended against Earth Kingdom troops outnumbered 10 to 1. Luzon took notes vigorously, images of the heroes who had come before him embedded in his mind as his brush worked furiously on the parchment.

Then came the lesson on the Leng Shan Massacre at the hands of Earth Kingdom soldiers.

Luzon lifted his head from his notes for the first time in what seemed like hours. Leng Shan Massacre? I've never heard of it before. His teacher, voice shaking with intensity, proceeded to describe the scenes as outlined by the military's investigation report. The men of the village were rounded up and executed, their limbs crushed one by one before they were finally put out of their misery. The women were held in place by the earthbenders and raped ten times over, with their husbands and children forced to watch before they too were executed, the village turned to a smoldering mess.

Luzon's fists were colorless as he clenched his brush with rage, the tip now a flattened mess, a result of pushing down onto the page with unbridled anger. Those fucking monsters, doing that to innocent civilians! He couldn't comprehend the pain that his people had gone through at the hands of those savages, an intense desire for revenge burning inside of him.

"Alright students, I know that's a tough way to end the day, but that concludes today's lesson," Luzon's teacher said quietly before clearing his throat. "Glory be to the Fire Lord!" he boomed.

"As the Fire Lord brings eternal glory to our great nation!" the students responded in unison, before packing their things and shuffling out of the classroom.

Luzon rejoined his classmates in the courtyard, sitting on the same bench that he had met Mai and Azula at this morning. The sun was high in the sky, scorching him under his entirely impractical school uniform, the shade of the tree only providing minimal relief. Thankfully, Mai, Azula, and Ty Lee broke free from the crowd and made their way over to Luzon just as the heat was about to become unbearable.

"Hi Azula. Ready for our training session later?" Luzon asked sheepishly.

"As if I need to be reminded of my own schedule Luzon. Don't worry, I'll make sure the servants are on hand with buckets of water to put out everything you're not supposed to set on fire," Azula said, her muted red lips forming the smallest hint of a smile, which wasn't lost on Luzon.

Is that lipstick? Huh…

Luzon shook himself free of his thoughts quickly, but not before Azula had already sauntered past him where her palanquin was waiting to take her back to the palace. With a strained lift, her palanquin was raised onto the shoulders of her detail and made its way away from the Academy, the miserable looks on the servants' faces only made worse by the amount of sweat that stained their bright red robes.

Luzon turned away, shaking his head before saying goodbye to Mai and Ty Lee and making the walk home. Thankfully his legs had become considerably less sore throughout the day, so it didn't look like he had just finished riding a komodo rhino for 12 hours, and the fact he would've had no chance in a training scenario against Azula if he was as sore as he was in the morning.

The house was quiet as Luzon stepped in-his father still hard at work in a multitude of different meetings, Anika waiting tables and his mother most likely at the market shopping for food and whatever new trinkets caught her eye this time. Quickly changing over into a black sleeveless training top and grey shorts, Luzon eagerly made his way to the palace into the direction of the slowly setting late afternoon sun.

There were a lot more people out at this time of day, the markets full of vendors selling delicious street food, couples walking hand in hand, some with children gleefully running ahead of them while others were just getting over the mild awkwardness of a first date. Patrols of soldiers routinely marched along the streets, although merely a formality. There was no threat of any enemy attack or any inherent danger to the people of the capital, save for a drunken card game that managed to get out of hand but that was swiftly cured with a few knocks to the back of the head with a baton. Nobody ever got too unruly though, as that was a one way sanctioned trip to the coal mines out in the colonies. You might as well be dead.

Luzon arrived at the imposing red gates of the palace, flashing his identification seal to the sentries posted at the gate, who let him in with no further questions. Shuyo's entire immediate family were given these seals, a token of merit and convenience for working so close to the Fire Lord.

He moved through the palace grounds, exchanging quick nods and cursory greetings with nobles and officers as they crossed paths. Approaching the training area, Luzon saw a man sitting alongside a turtleduck pond, dressed in royal guard colors but with the trademark helmet removed. He's off duty, Luzon observed. As he got closer to the man, small clouds of smoke began to slowly rise around the man's head, undoubtedly from a pipe that he was smoking. Noticing his presence, the man quickly turned to face Luzon, and as he did so a wide, mirthless smile came upon his face.

"I knew I'd find you here, punk," Jang growled, laying the still lit pipe on the ground as he stood up.

An overpowering feeling of dread filled Luzon, as he realized he would finally have to pay for the gamble he took the day before.

"Sergeant Jang, please, I wasn't trying to disrespect you, I just wanted an audience with the Princess,"Luzon pleaded. Jang spat on the ground at this remark.

"You know who I got an audience with? The executive officer. Ten lashes. Have you ever been whipped kid?" Jang growled as he rolled up his sleeves and made his way quickly towards Luzon.

Desperately, Luzon tried to put his hands up and defend himself but to no avail-the Sergeant's massive stride closed the distance between them almost instantly, and Luzon suddenly found himself trying to dodge a flurry of punches. The first two-a wild uppercut and a left hook-missed their target, but Luzon couldn't avoid the third punch, a vicious right cross that connected above his left eye. Luzon hardly felt the punch however, as he was knocked out cold before his body came crashing down in a heap onto the hot ground.

Azula angrily tossed aside the tray of food that was placed before the door to her room, the porcelain cups and bright silver utensils making a loud crash that echoed through the halls of the palace. Behind her, her entourage of servants frantically scrambled to clean up the mess, scrubbing with rags and water. Azula scoffed in disgust as she slammed the giant wooden door shut, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath while trying to regain her composure, taking her hair piece out and letting her hair fall onto her shoulders. She wasn't hungry, and whatever small appetite she had was destroyed when her palanquin came crashing down on the way back from the Academy. The situation was only made worse when the only excuse of the pathetic man who was responsible for dropping her was "heat exhaustion." Surely a decade in the coal mines will make him a lot more familiar with heat exhaustion.

Calm down. If I keep getting this angry I'll be just like Zuko. Azula shuddered at the thought of being compared in any way to her older brother. She prided herself in being cool, calm, calculating and efficient, hardly letting her emotions get the best of her-but the past few incidents of her subordinates had driven her closer to the edge than ever before.

Standing with her back against the door, Azula kept her eyes closed for a few more minutes, feeling the anger and frustration slowly seep out of her. Satisfied with her mental state, she quickly changed over into her familiar training gear and tied her hair into a loose ponytail. Azula made her way to the training ground, but not before barking more orders at the servants who were desperately trying to clean up the mess outside her door.

On her way to the grounds, Azula ran into an off duty Sergeant Jang, sitting on a bench smoking a small pipe without a care in the world. Upon seeing her approach, Jang stood up and bowed respectfully, pipe still lit in his hand.

"Good afternoon Princess, I hope yesterday's debacle is behind us. I want to ensure that you have my full cooperation and that you can trust me with any matter at hand," Jang said.

Azula nodded curtly. "Of course Sergeant, now go smoke that somewhere else before I forbid you from smoking ever again," Azula said, waving her hand through the cloud of smoke that slowly rose before her.

Jang smiled and bowed once more, taking his leave to the barracks on the other side of the palace grounds.

Shaking her head, Azula continued on her walk to the training grounds, frustration bubbling back to the surface once more. She had been on edge recently, her normally stoic demeanor making way to rashness and recklessness. Deep down Azula knew why, but she had been doing her best to keep it as far out of her mind as possible. I refuse to be a figurehead, some political tool… I'll lead this nation to glory with my own hand and anyone who tries to stop me will be swiftly eliminated.

Azula's frustration and malice turned to confusion and mild concern as she came upon Luzon sprawled out on the ground.

Luzon looked up to the sky, awash with the fire streaked reds and oranges of the slowly setting sun, clouds painted purple as the sun slowly slipped beneath the infinite horizon. He squinted as the gentle rays pierced his vision, and as he did so the light sent an unbelievable searing pain through his head. Luzon groaned, his head feeling as if a giant vice grip was squeezing it so hard that his brain was about to explode. He rolled back over onto his stomach, desperately trying to shut out all the light to give him some form of relief from the pain.

Luzon simply lay there for what seemed like an eternity, trying to slip out of the daze he had fallen into before a firm tap to his ribs and an all so familiar voice brought him out of the fog.

"Luzon get up you imbecile! You'll have plenty of time to get acquainted with the ground in the next couple of hours, but now isn't the time," Azula chided, prodding his ribs with her black boots.

Luzon slowly rolled back over and opened his eyes once more, and saw Azula looking down at him, arms crossed with her trademark tinge of annoyance in her face. Her amber eyes contrasted perfectly with the orange and indigo skies, and a slight breeze blew the back of her ponytail onto her shoulders ever so slightly. Luzon felt all the pain and pressure evaporate from his head as he looked up at Azula, if only for just one fleeting moment.

"I'm not going to say it again Luzon, get on your feet," Azula said, intensity rising in her voice.

Taking this cue, Luzon stood up slowly, desperately trying to shake the cobwebs from his head, his ears ringing slightly and a nauseating feeling grew in his stomach as his body tried to balance itself. Luzon flashed a weak smile at Azula and brushed himself off, trying to regain his bearings and figure out exactly what the hell happened.

"Good to see you Princess," Luzon said weakly, trying to shake the dots out of his vision.

"I wish I could say the same Luzon, and by the looks of it you might be seeing things out of only one eye shortly," Azula said, motioning towards Luzon's left eye, which had begun to swell horribly.

Luzon reached up and touched his eye, grimacing as he did so, the skin tender and painful to the touch, warmer than the surrounding part of his face. As he did so, the memories of the last five minutes came rushing back to him. Everything except seeing the finishing punch come flying towards his face, of course.

"Jang…" Luzon muttered, recollecting his thoughts on the encounter.

"Ah so I see Sergeant Jang reacquainted himself with you after that dumb little stunt you pulled yesterday. I might have to give him a little gratitude after all," Azula said, smiling. "We've wasted enough time mulling over your inability to fight, let's start training."

Luzon ignored her jab and followed her to the training ground, taking his place opposite Azula as they began their stretching routines, listening to Azula as she explained her training routine. The first part of her routine was simply sprints and agility work, before moving on to hand to hand combat, and finally firebending, spending 30 minutes on each discipline.

Azula set the pace of her regimen, constantly moving from drill to drill with maximum efficiency and energy conservation, not wasting a single breath on unnecessary movements or excessive force more than what the drill required. Luzon kept up with her no problem through the sprints and agility drills, but when it came to the hand to hand portion, he started to lose pace.

They alternated between aggressor and defender, and admittedly Azula was surprised at how well Luzon performed as the aggressor. Each of his blows were calculated and well placed, and his fundamentals were solid, obviously a product of respectable training when he was younger. However, each strike was slow and lethargic, as if he wore leaden weights on his wrists and ankles, and Azula blocked them with ease. She noticed that his eyes had a vacant look to them, unfocusing and in a listless daze. Azula's suspicions were confirmed when she took her turn as the aggressor and found it entirely too easy to slip past his guard and land strike after strike unopposed.

Luzon absorbed all of her fierce strikes as well as he could, grimacing hard internally to not show Azula how much pain she was inflicting on him, especially in his head that felt as if it were about to explode. It didn't help at all when at the end of her routine she ducked and struck Luzon square in the chest with a vicious spinning roundhouse kick that sent him flying back and onto the ground once more.

"Oops, I didn't mean to hit you that hard, I swear," Azula said sarcastically with a dry smile.

Luzon shook his head in frustration and rose to his feet once more before mentally preparing himself for what would be the hardest part of the session yet-firebending. Luzon went first, doing the same drill that he had done with Iroh the day before. Each blast of fire was wispy and weak, his flames a dull orange and wayward, with only one in three blasts finding their target each time. He couldn't feel any of the energy that would rise up within him whenever he usually bended, and his breaths were ragged and hollow. Luzon knew something was wrong, but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't figure out what.

Azula watched on with a bored and unimpressed look on her face. She knew that Luzon wasn't a particularly good firebender to begin with, but this display was downright appalling. Azula felt almost disrespected at his sorry excuse for firebending in her presence, but she sighed as she allowed herself to analyze the situation at hand. Luzon's symptoms and subsequent performance fell in line with all the battle reports she had studied of firebenders who had been struck in the head by boulders fighting earthbenders. While it was entirely his fault, Luzon's black eye wasn't the only wound that Jang had given him earlier.

"Wow, and I thought Zuko was a shitty firebender," Azula said dryly, clapping mockingly. Luzon ignored her and sat down on the ground, exhausted.

Azula began her routine, a dazzling spectacle of blue fire that illuminated the now night sky. Luzon could feel her fire and energy from 30 yards away, her flames launching her high into the night sky as she expertly landed her attacks on the helpless training dummies, all the while holding up such poise, elegance, and grace that only she could exude. Luzon was enamored even though it was all he could do to stay awake.

Azula finished her routine and made her way to Luzon, who had seemingly recovered from his firebending...spectacle.

"Well Luzon you were right, you're one step above a training dummy, but I must emphasize that it's only one step," Azula said, rolling her eyes.

"Of course, Princess," Luzon said quietly, flashing a weak smile before turning from her and gathering his belongings.

Azula frowned. She rather enjoyed the mild banter between the two of them, and to hear Luzon act like a lowly servant in front of her made her more upset than she expected. She might have a remedy for him, but she had to be very vague as to what that remedy actually was, or else Luzon would start asking the wrong questions.

Shaking the thoughts of pity out of her head, Azula gathered her belongings as well and led Luzon out of the training area. They walked in awkward silence, the starry night and torches illuminating the cobblestone path before them. The pair arrived at the palace gates, the sentry posted at the front bowing as the Princess approached.

"Th-thank you Azula," Luzon said as he bowed, his slurred speech made it sound as if he was drunk.

Azula raised an eyebrow. This was not normal. Sighing and pressing her palm to her face, Azula decided to help Luzon. Hopefully the fucker will forget it whenever his head clears up, she thought to herself.

"On second thought Luzon, there's something I'd like you to try. Come with me," Azula said, before leading him to the main palace entrance. Luzon shrugged with indifference and followed the Princess.

As they entered the palace, Luzon couldn't help but gawk in awe at its vast extravagance. Halls of red and gold, enormous statues of Fire Lords past and present, portraits of said Fire Lords above them casting an ominous gaze upon all those that entered. Servants moved through the palace quickly and methodically, constantly cleaning and making sure the palace kept its impeccable appearance around the clock.

They climbed the grand wooden stairs in the center, feet soft on the red woolen carpet that covered it. Azula turned right at the top of the stairs, leading Luzon down the hallway of Fire Lord portraits, and he couldn't shake the feeling that Ozai's portrait was staring into his soul. At the end of the hall they came to a massive wooden door with a porcelain tray full of food at its base.

"Servant!" Azula yelled, her high pitched voice echoing through the palace halls as she picked up a tea cup from the tray.

Almost immediately, a horde of servants came rushing from seemingly out of nowhere and stood in front of Azula and Luzon, bowing deeply.

"Water," Azula said, tossing the teacup to a random servant, who sprinted off as fast as she could towards the water source. The rest of the servants evacuated the area quickly, returning to whatever tasks they had been occupied with.

Azula turned swiftly on her heel and picked up the tray and opened the door to what Luzon presumed to be her room. "You wait out there," her voice echoed as she slammed the door on Luzon, setting the tray down in her room..

The quickly moving footsteps that got louder in the hallway signaled that the servant had retrieved the water. She handed the teacup to Luzon and bowed before going back to tend to her duties. Azula reemerged from her room only long enough to take the cup from Luzon before disappearing behind the door once again. She reappeared a final time, handing the cup back to Luzon, this time steaming and with two mysterious leaves floating in it.

"W-what is this?" Luzon asked, smelling the cup, his nose flooding with an earthy mint aroma.

"It should help with the headaches. Drink it," Azula said flatly. "Fair warning, the trade off for not having headaches tonight means you won't sleep tonight either. I suggest finding a book to read, preferably something related on how to become a less shitty firebender."

Luzon rolled his eyes before drinking the hot tea, the cool mint and hot water combining to soothe his throat.

"Thank you A-Azula, honestly," Luzon said gratuitously. "H-how can I repay you?"

"Oh shut up. The best way for you to repay me is to get out of my sight as fast as possible," Azula said, waving her hand at him dismissively, although her voice carried no malice.

"W-well," Luzon said, ignoring her empty threat, "How about dinner?"

A/N: I know the story is very dialogue heavy at the moment, but please bear with me. Integrating an OC into the story realistically without being a canon tag along takes time, and I think it'll pay off very well in the future. Also, my vision of Azula differs slightly from the one in the show. I'd like to think that she isn't the stone cold killer yet that appears in ATLA, but goes through a multitude of different hardships that turns her into the Azula we all know. Thank you for all the kudos!


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